Haunted and Hunted
by MrsMailJeevas
Summary: When Mello finds the perfect house for Matt and himself Matt "willingly" agrees to move in. "Perfect house," for Matt is a tentative term. The place gives him some serious goosebumps. Then Matt starts seeing things, hearing things and the dreams are keeping him awake. Mello thinks the red head is acting strange but "strange" doesn't even begin to describe what is actually going on.
1. Chapter 1

Authors note: Thanks for clicking and attempting to read! I really do enjoy this story but that may be for my own personal sadistic pleasure. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it too. If it's not too much trouble maybe you can review? Or not, that's cool too. Anyway, do the usual. The second chapter is currently being written while I still have time so it should be posted sometime soon.

Chapter one

"Good afternoon." The blond relator schooled her face into happy blank as her eyes racked over the blond and red head that stepped out of the car. She couldn't tell right off which one it was that she spoke to on the phone but it didn't really matter. The blond one stood several inches taller than her, all heavy boots and leather. His blond hair was pinned back uncovering a grotesque scar that made her cringe inwardly. She had to suck it up. If she sold this God forsaken house she would certainly win Realtor of the Month. She had been itching for that prize since she joined the company five years ago. She'd come close three times but this year it would be all hers and all she had to do was sell it. The other man stepped out of the car, his red hair falling heavily over his face. He reminded her of her family's sheep dog from when she was a child but she spared him a smile anyway. Every little thing counted.

The blond spoke first, "Afternoon. I'm the one that spoke to you on the phone. This is my roommate, Matt." He gestured over to the red head that held a gloved hand up in greeting. He didn't waste any time slamming the door behind him leaving a scowl on the other man's face. It must have been his car. "So this is the house that we spoke about on the phone? Show us around, Lisa, right?"

She nodded. "That's me, Lisa Aubry, the best relator in the area." She winked but his expression didn't change any. She cleared her throat, "Oh well, anyway, this is called the Vandorian house. It was built in the early 1800's and has a very rich history." She stumbled off from that instantly, rich in this case meant violent and colorful. "The original owner built it for his wife after they were married. There are five bedrooms, three and a half baths along with two large living room areas. The den can be converted into another bedroom if you would like that. There's a basement, an attic, and a chapel out back with the garden." She watched the blond's eyes widen, hooked. She smiled inwardly. "Shall I show you?"

He nodded slowly glancing at the red head that hadn't moved an inch since getting out of the car. She knew that look well enough. He felt something weird was going on here. The best she could do right now was show them around and hope to offer them a deal they couldn't refuse. She walked forward up the winding path towards the stairs that led to the beautifully crafted front door. Ivy crept up the walls and dangled over the edges of the wrap around porch.

Mello grinned, "It's beautiful, right Matt?" He questioned glancing back at the red head that was still looking around like something was going to pop out at him. "It's big enough for us to have bedrooms and offices." He watched as the relator unlocked the door.

Matt gave the other an incredulous look. He wasn't stupid; Mello was only interested in this place because it had a damn chapel. It was already a done deal. Mello wanted this house; this whole look around thing was strictly for formalities. He couldn't shake the feeling that something freaky was going on here. He could have brought it up to the blond but he would have only said that he was overreacting. He wasn't, he just somehow knew that he wasn't.

The entrance hallway was freezing even more than it was outside. Autumn had come heavily this year and they had already had several inches of snow leading Mello to declare that their apartment wasn't "cutting it" any longer. Matt wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean anyway. Their apartment was warm, homey, warm…did he mention warm? He should have known it was because Mello currently had the wealth to move them to a bigger place. Not to mention that their wee apartment didn't have nearly enough furniture to occupy one fourth of the space in this place. Mello would get to do some serious redecorating and it would all be in his taste. That idea froze Matt worse than the damn hallway.

Halfway down the hallway a door opened up into the first living room. It was a large room with vaulted ceilings and over looked the driveway and porch. Mello was already at the window thinking about what he could do with this room. Matt just stood awkwardly to the side with his hands in his pockets waiting for the best time to excuse himself for a cigarette. The first living room led to another door that opened up to another hallway that held the stairs to travel up and further down the kitchen, second living room, opening to the basement and door to the back yard. The second floor held two decently large bedrooms and two of the bathrooms. The third floor held the largest bedroom that opened into a vast bathroom with two sinks, garden bath and separate shower. The floor to ceiling windows overlooked the chapel out back.

Lisa stood at the door giving the two of them space as they spoke. "I want it." Mello said simply giving the red head a smile. "Don't you? It's old, it's beautiful and not to mention all the space. We're far out and no one would be able to just walk into here. It's going to take some fixing to feel comfortable, cameras and motion sensors but dammit I want it Matt."

Matt frowned, "It's okay I guess." His eyes traveled everywhere around the room but Mello's face. "If you want it we'll get it."

Mello deflated slightly, "You don't like it do you Matty? How can you not like this place? Or you want to stay cramped into that tiny apartment where we're constantly running over each other?" Matt shrugged lightly watching the other in the corner of his eye. "Do you really want it?"

Matt nodded pressing a smile to his face, "Yeah Mello. I love it; I just don't want to go through moving in." He lied as the blond waved him off just like Matt knew he would.

The blond grinned, "I'm going to talk to Lisa, and you go get a cigarette or something." He headed off leaving the red head in the large bedroom alone. Great.

xXx

Matt closed his eyes lighting his third cigarette since he had come outside. This whole place had him on edge but he wasn't going to let that ruin Mello's mood. The blond would never get off his back if he whined enough that Mello let this house go. Once, when they were young Matt had told Mello that getting a shirt of his favourite team was stupid right before they won the championship. When Mello went back they were all sold out, he still mentioned it to this day.

His breath and the smoke from his cigarette couldn't be told apart which was how he liked it. The white washed porch curled around delicately to the back giving an easy way to walk around. He jumped when he saw the blond disappear around the corner. A smirk passed along his lips as he followed. Mello must have finished with all the small talk he was going on about.

"Mell?" He turned the corner to find it empty. A few leaves were scattered around but the blond was nowhere in sight. He scowled, "Mell it's too cold to be playing tag out here." He called turning the corner again only to find more of the empty patio. His eyes drifted over towards the chapel before taking a step. The door slammed before he could even get down the stairs. "What the hell Mell?" He called wading through the few inches of snow piled before pausing. Something was wrong.

Matt swallowed, there were no footprints in the snow. None. There was no way Mello could be in the chapel unless he turned into Superman and flew inside. He took a conscious step back bumping into someone. Against all formalities he released a squeak, spun and nearly died falling into the snow. Mello looked down at him shocked before a slow smile spread over his lips. "Problem?"

Matt opened his mouth before closing it. It was his imagination. It was all his imagination. There was no way he saw what he thought he did. Okay, that didn't make sense. He hadn't been having hallucinations. Maybe he didn't get enough sleep last night; he did stay up playing that new game. He paled significantly; he hoped that it was staying up all night.

"Everything's done." Mello reached out pulling Matt up roughly. "What's wrong with you? You look like you saw a unicorn shitting rainbows."

"Ghost. I look like I just saw a ghost." Matt whispered ignoring the look Mello gave him as he fiddled around for another cigarette. "So I have to live here now?"

Mello nodded, "I just told you it's done. Come on! Let's go check out my new chapel." He said grinning grabbing Matt by the hand.

"Fine, whatever. At least tell me when I became your roommate?" He wasn't going to tell the blond what he saw because he wasn't sure himself. It would only upset him and the last thing he wanted was to put a damper on Mello's kid in a candy store look. He hadn't seen him like this in months and with it being so close to his birthday if Mello wanted this he could bare.

Mello paused with his hand on the door, "Oh, did I say that?"

He nodded, "Yeah. You did."

Mello shrugged, "My bad."

xXx

"I can carry the damn boxes if you're going to bitch about it." Mello's blond hair could barely be seen above the three boxes he was holding. He was beyond irritated only because they had managed to get the only damn moving van with no heat. It had to have been seven degrees in the truck, couple that with Matt's chain smoking Mello was on a war path.

Matt turned heading up the stairs with his boxes instead of following Mello further into the house. He wasn't going to listen to Mello's bullshit with what he was certain he was going to have to put up with in this house. Nope, he was going to keep a distance and stay quiet until the blond started to experience shit too. The only good thing was that nothing had happened since he stepped foot in here today. They had been moving in for nearly two hours. Hopefully, it was a good sign.

Personally he just wanted to get in and bed down for a while. He hadn't been sleeping any since Mello bought this house. All his dreams led back to that damn chapel. Holy ground his ass. It always looked like Mello kneeling down in front of the wooden cross. Matt could walk up behind him about to reach forward and pat Mello on the back. Every time he stopped and looks up finding the Jesus attached to the cross crying tears of black blood. He reaches for Mello but the blond in gone and he's never too sure it was the blond to begin with. He turns heading out of the chapel but the door is gone.

Matt swallowed dropping the boxes on Mello's floor. The idea of the dream shook him to his core. The door is gone but the silence that had been the only soothing aspect of the dream is broken by the most horrible blood curdling scream. He clasps his hands over his ears, turning frantically to find the Jesus replaced with Mello sobbing tears of black blood. The figure is back kneeling on the floor mumbling quietly under its breath.

It stands and turns deliberately and then…

"Matt?" The red head jerked nearly tripping over the boxes that he had put on the floor. "What the hell are you doing?" He questioned. He still wore his usual leather even though they had transported his bike in the back of the moving truck. "If you have time to stand around you have time to finish taking shit out the truck so we can get it back before nightfall." He folded his arms looking around his bedroom. Even now the smile was forming on his lips. "Come on Matt."

The red head moved out of the reach of the others hands with ease. He didn't need to look back to figure out the look on the others face. Mello was directly behind him anyway breathing down his neck so he walked faster. "You seriously don't get anything weird about this place? I thought having a religion gave you like super powers against evil or something?"

Mello gave him an incredulous look. "We both know that if that was the case you would have become a Catholic ages ago so you could fly." He smirked but the red head just shrugged. "Oh wait, that's not you're style. You're more likely to want to enter videogames and play as a character." He frowned when the red head just continued outside as if he wasn't speaking. Matt had been weird these last few days but it didn't have much to do with him. He assumed it was because the other stayed up countless hours playing games and chatting with strangers online.

He had mentioned something about nightmares but Matt was just being whiny. He nodded and didn't pay attention when the other attempted to elaborate.

_"What kind of house in the middle of nowhere has a damn chapel, Mello?" Matt was boxing up his games in the living room as the blond moved quietly throughout the kitchen barely listening. The red head continued, "I mean think about it. It was built forever ago, for all we know it could have been a slave home and converted later." _

_Mello chuckled, "Slavery wasn't as popular here as it was in America Matt." He began placing the china inside a box shaking his head. "I think it's all those games that have been giving you those nightmares. Maybe the house is a bit old but old houses are beautiful and filled with history. If it makes you feel better we can do some research on it but I don't think we're going to find anything dark and dreading. I promise, once you plug yourself in you won't even be able to notice anything going bump in the night." _

_Matt frowned, "But I'll be there by myself while you're away at work Mell. If anyone is going to hear something going bump it's going to be me." _

_"Then call me." Mello replied lightly. "Besides we'll have motion sensors and cameras all around. No one will be able to get in without us knowing, okay?" _

_"Okay." Matt whispered but it wasn't people that he was worried about. Living people at least. He was positive that he thought he saw Mello that day. That chapel gave him goose bumps and not the religious kind. He wasn't prone to hallucinations even if Mello thought he was. He knew what he saw and it hadn't been Mello playing around. _

xXx

Mello frowned adjusting the camera for the third time, "How about now?" He questioned into the walkie talkie. "Matt, are you listening? If I fall off the fucking roof because you're not paying attention I'm going to kill you." He frowned at the static that returned. "Matt?"

The window in front of him opened red hair and goggles. "Reception is shit. Cellphones included. We're going to die out here, I can feel it." He watched the scowl settle over Mello's face. "Well, I'm just saying. The camera is fine for now. It'll have to be resettled if we have a storm or something. It sits in the path of wind." He moved out of the way as the blond walked over the roof and crawled in through the window.

"Reception my ass," He mumbled dropping heavily to the polished wooden floor of his own bedroom. "It worked just fine when we started two hours ago. What was the hold up?"

Matt shrugged, 'It died." He held it up clicking the switch on and off in front of the blond. He frowned when the red light turned on. "The fuck?"

Mello stood several inches above him in annoyance. "Does that look dead to you motherfucker?" He spoke into his own walkie talkie and it came out clearly into Matt's own. "I'm about to start unpacking get the fuck out." He gestured redundantly towards the door. If the red head wanted to play stupid ass games with him that was fine but he didn't have to stand there and take it. Matt opened his mouth to speak again but he gave him a dark look. The red head threw his hands up stomping out the room and disappearing down the stairs.

The blond watched him go with a mixture of annoyance and satisfaction that all he had to do was give Matt a look to get rid of him. He glanced around at the mounds of boxes he had to unpack still. He sighed, first things first he had to set up his bed so at least he could sleep tonight.

He billowed the blanket over the bed hearing something pop and tumbled outside his window. He frowned heading towards the window and glancing out. The camera he had spent ten minutes putting up was hanging loosely by one wire down the side of the house. "What the fuck…"

"Mell?" The walkie talkie blared from the other side of the room. The blond moved across the room to pick it up by crawling over his bed.

"Yeah?"

"All cameras outside are down. The perimeter is currently unsecured." He heard the sound of a cigarette being lit.

Mello rubbed his temples. "It's probably from your faulty ass wiring Matt. Go fix them, all of them. I mean it." He heard the other sigh. "This time I'll stay in the house and track your process. Grab a coat, it's going to get cold." He allowed the sneer into his voice. "I'm coming down."

"Kay." Was the soft response of the red head.

xXx

Matt didn't care about darkness but the idea of being outside when Mello had purposefully turned off the motion lights sent him into a feeling of distress. The blond was positive that Matt had turned off the talkie system but it had actually _died. _He couldn't explain how it was able to turn back on when he showed the other. He shook his head in distaste clicking the walkie button's side. It buzzed to life, "Well, I'm out here and I don't see anything wrong with the wires. It's just not working."

Mello's voice came back languid, "Bullshit, you're not looking hard enough. You've fixed the others so fix this one." His voice tightened. "Hurry up Matt, I really want to be in bed right now not worrying about a damn security system because you're retarded."

The red head frowned tinkering away, "Retarded? What's that Mello? You're running out of funny insults? It's okay though they have a class for that." He heard the other scoff and smiled. "How about now?"

"Nope." Mello sang sweetly. "Hurry up or I'll decide to lock you outside all night and you can be the camera."

Matt pushed his hair back, "That's cold even for you. I mean, Mell think about it. You set all these cameras on your own, how could they all have fallen and at the same time?" He questioned.

Mello sighed, "They're connected because you made them that way. If one goes out, they all go out. Fix the shit and come lock up so I can go to bed. Tomorrow I want to work on the chapel and you can set the house up and by set up I don't mean your videogames. The movers for the new furniture are coming and I need you to watch them."

Matt moved another cord, "Yeah, yeah." He mumbled lightly.

"That's it. It's back up, now come in and lock the doors."

The red head nodded turning to head back through the backdoor. He paused noticing the lights on in the Chapel across the backyard. He thought he saw a silver of a shadow before shaking his head and heading back into the house. He wasn't even. Not tonight. Not ever.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors note: So like I promised chapter two is here and complete. I didn't make you wait forever. It's mostly because I really like this story but anyway in the last chapter I got a question from S'moresForMooses. It was asked if there is anything between this Matt and Mello. The answer is...kind of? They're not together because Mello doesn't recognize it but they are together in the sense that they share a special bond that goes beyond friendship. So, most likely you will see their relationship grow. Whether or not they will begin dating is something yet to be seen. I really don't know for sure. So far they only sleep in the same bed which isn't really much. I mean if they looked at each other like brothers it wouldn't be strange for them to share a bed. At the same time they grew up together in the same room. It's not really romantic. We'll have to see where it goes but I'm hoping for something to actually blossom between the two of them. As I said before please review and hopefully I'll get the next chapter up soon. So, enjoy guys!

Chapter two

Matt woke up in a cold sweat at the sound of footsteps outside his bedroom door. He didn't remember falling asleep but he was thankful that he had left the bathroom light on. The room was cast into a shade of harsh pale yellow leaving everything a dirty golden color in its wake. Boxes stacked upon each other littered the floor. He rolled out of bed before noticing he hadn't even gotten the chance to undress.

Unlike Mello's bedroom, his bedroom overlooked the front yard with its winding walkway and curving driveway. The motion lights were on but he couldn't tell why. It could be anything from a deer to an intruder. The point, as Mello had said countless times, was that if someone was out there they would be seen. Animals fell way below the blond's radar.

He sighed quietly sliding his feet across the floor avoiding the boxes as best as he could in his tired state. His hand paused over the knob as the footfalls grew silent right in front of his door. He gulped when he saw the knob begin to turn on its own. If he could have screamed he would have but the sight of the blond, wide eyed and confused caught the scream in his throat and he swallowed it before the other took notice.

Mello blinked several times, he wasn't wearing anything but a pair of nice sleeping pants and Matt found his eyes sweeping the other in sub-consciousness. It wasn't every day that Mello walked around half naked or looked so stunned. "What are you doing?" He managed still watching the blond look completely struck. "Standing outside my bedroom and being creepy this early in the morning?"

Mello crossed his arms, "I thought I heard you singing." He said seriously. "Or maybe the music from one of your games, I was coming to tell you to turn it off."

Green eyes widened slightly before shaking his head. "Or you were checking on me like you do every night when you're home?" He watched the other look away. "You can just tell the truth Mell." He smirked lightly turning away from the other. "If you ask nicely I'll let you sleep with me tonight."

The other smirked, "And what makes you think I want to give up my nice warm bed?"

Matt shrugged, "Well I'm down here first off and second so are you. My bed is closer than yours." He bent awkwardly over the box marked as clothes to find something to sleep in. Mello looked down the hallway towards the stairs that led back to his room.

The blond nodded closing the door. Matt's room showed that he had fallen asleep instead of remotely attempting to put anything away. Mello had been up half the night because there was too much mess. He couldn't deal with it. In the end he had unpacked half of his belongings, got tired and stacked the rest of the boxes in the corner so they didn't take up so much space. Matt's room was like a maze, he sat heavily on the bed glancing around.

"When are you going to unpack?" He questioned watching the red head move slower than usual. Matt was always slow moving but this was taking the cake. He would have worried about the other but it was probably the same as always. "You shouldn't stay up playing games instead of sleeping. How can I trust you to monitor the house if you're unconscious at the computers?"

The red head pulled out a shirt and long sleeping pants due to the draftiness of the house. "Because the minute the actual motion sensors are tripped by a human you get an alert on your phone and that damn buzzing starts in the house. Even if I'm unconscious I'll be damned if I decide to let someone come in here." He sluggishly moved towards the bathroom. "It's okay Mello, I have this. Okay?"

Mello toyed with the hair he had pulled up out of his face. It was in a ponytail that sat at the top of his head. "Okay." He mumbled hearing the other shut the door rather than look at him. When the red head returned he wasted no time crawling into bed. Mello scowled, "Are you seriously going to leave the bathroom light on?" He questioned as the red head nodded. "What are you? Scared of the dark ten years too late?" The other shrugged. "Well damn Matt, I can't sleep with lights on."

The red head looked conflicted, "Just try, okay? When I put the last camera up the lights in the Chapel were on." He mumbled closing his eyes feeling the others gaze on him.

"I don't see why. I haven't been in there to turn the lights on. Did you at least go turn it off?" He questioned. "There may be some kind of faulty wiring. You can come in and look at it when you have time tomorrow." He felt the other go stiff beside him. "Oh, you can't seriously think something's in there Matt? I'm telling you I didn't feel a thing."

"I know." He replied quietly. "It's just my imagination."

Mello lay back triumphant. "Well then, tomorrow I'll go to market and get groceries and you can check out the wiring. Okay?"

"Okay." His voice was soft, worried and almost scared. "I'll do it."

"Good."

xXx

The doors to the Chapel were heavily weathered from years of use. The large oak doors held some form of Latin and twin crosses respectively on each door. Matt didn't even want to translate, he was sure if it said something satanic Mello would have known. He swallowed heavily pushing the door open with his shoulder holding the tool box lightly in his hand. The blond was purposefully putting him through all of this. He wanted him to get used to doing things scared and on his own. That was fine but in this situation it bordered cruelty. It was all so perfectly Mello.

The lights were off now. Whatever had turned them on the night before must have thought otherwise of it. Several rows of pews were matted with aged cobwebs some still carrying the deceased spiders within them. Matt faintly wondered what could be so endearing about this place to Mello aside from the whole God place. Frankly, it gave him an unnerving stirring deep within the pit of his stomach. The supposed faulty lights hung loosely overhead still off. He frowned shaking his head.

The Alter sat up front looking recently swept. Knowing Mello he had been in here early this morning doing a bit of work in places. Matt had woken to find the blond had unpacked half his room and was elsewhere in the house attempting to put things away. Mello could never idle, he wasn't sure why but the blond was constantly in motion. Matt believed if he just attempted to pretend he was busy Mello would just put everything in place alone. He liked the idea of not doing anything.

He traced the wiring up the wall and frowned. He was definitely going to need the ladder for this one. He sighed, the faster the better. When he re-entered the house everything was silent. He didn't know why he was expecting otherwise. Maybe Mello was right and it was all just his imagination. The dream hadn't come last night, or at least if it did he didn't remember it. Thankfully.

He bucked his shoulders heading down the hallway towards the front door. He jerked the door open hoping to see Mello pulling up in the driveway but when the nearest store was about thirty minutes out he knew better. He sighed, he should have whined just to go with the blond instead of being stuck here alone.

The air stuck icy in his face as he frowned in annoyance. He'd have to suck it up if he wanted to get this done before Mello got back from the store. The ladder was still on the side of the house from where they had left it the night before. Well, where he left it the night before. Mello would have looked at it as some form of security break which was something that he usually did but he didn't know so all was well. He lugged it from where it had dug into the brown earth and hefted it back towards the Devil's chamber that Mello believed was some kind of God worshipping place.

The more he thought about it ghosts didn't come out during the day. Night time was their thing. He breathed a sigh of relief before propping the ladder against the wall. Each step screamed stop but he continued up. If this wasn't done he would certainly hear Mello's mouth and he didn't want to. If the blond liked this place so much he would try to like it also even if it ended up killing him. Well, that was a bit deep, not killing. That would be bad.

~*xXx*~

"Matt!" Mello called kicking the open front door. The red head had to be around somewhere if there were open doors. Silence greeted him as he pulled the bags he had to relinquish to open the door back into his arms. He could only assume that the red head had left the door open and was out in the Chapel doing as he asked. If he couldn't trust Matt to lock a damn door what could he trust him with?

When Mello was away Matt was the security. Despite all the motion detectors, sensors and alerts if Matt wasn't on the ball any person could get into this place. He wanted to chalk this up to Matt's personal paranoia but what kind of person that paranoid could leave the door unlocked and slightly ajar. The least he could do was stay somewhere close by but the further Mello moved into the house the more he realized that Matt couldn't be inside. There was no undertone of music, no game sounds, actually there was no sound at all. He could see why the red head was so insistent on calling this place haunted but Mello didn't believe in ghosts. When people died they either went to hell or heaven. Why would someone want to stick around and haunt this place?

He placed the few bags on the counter venturing out the back door which was also open. "Oh for God's sake Matt you better be dead somewhere." He trudged down the stairs taking care of keeping on the path. It seemed to be the only part the snow was actually melting off of. He noticed with a bit of satisfaction that there were tracks in the snow, human tracks. Four sets from what he could tell. One was his own when he came through to straighten up a bit this morning, the second looked like Matt, the third also Matt leaving and then finally Matt returning dragging something that left parallel lines in his wake almost destroying the crisp snow before the sun could.

He pushed the double doors open taking care not to make any noise at all. It wouldn't have mattered anyway when he peeked up and saw the red head deep in thought examining several wires at once. He put his hands on his hips and watched. It was one of those rare occasions that Matt was actually working and beyond that he had actually lifted his goggles long enough to see what the real world looked like. Mello assumed it was because a world tinted orange by his goggles didn't work too well when you had to decipher the colours to make sure everything was in proper order.

He waited a few more minutes before clearing his throat. Matt glanced down and for the first time Mello noticed that his hands were shaking. He couldn't imagine why, he seemed calm enough. "So, Matty did it ever occur to you that maybe locking the door is a good way to do things?" He questioned aloud as Matt shrugged lightly going back to his examination. "Okay, let's try this again. How am I supposed to "trust you," because you "got this," and you leave both the front and back doors open? I mean damn Matt anyone could have breached the perimeter and there wouldn't have been a damn thing you could have done. Matt shrugged again and Mello scowled.

"Look Mello I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now, okay?" His voice remained stable but he was still shaking. "So stop fishing for answers to everything." He began the slow decent from the top of the ladder. Mello didn't bother to point out how dangerous it was to climb up a snow covered ladder without anything holding the bottom besides a wooden floor that was shifty at best. "Besides a couple lights being out the whole place is fine electricity speaking at least." He sounded drained.

Mello frowned, "Then how did you see the lights on? I didn't turn it on." He crossed his arms stepping out the way as the red head stood in front of him. Matt didn't respond instead gathering his belongings and heading out the door without stopping to check to see if Mello was following him. He assumed he would and with the sound of the door shutting lightly behind them he knew Mello was there. "Matt, I'm asking you a question."

The red head shrugged, "Maybe I imagined it Mello." He didn't believe his own words but he really wanted to get away from the blond right now. "It wouldn't be the first time." He added for good measure.

Mello conceded to that idea. He returned to the kitchen sending Matt out to get the rest of the groceries. If Matt wanted to ignore him that was fine but he wasn't going to get off on working. Mello would be damned if he put everything together on his own. Matt had to at least look like he was working.

xXx

Matt was so tired. When he reached the top of the stairs he was already panting. It wasn't as if he could just ignore Mello and take a nap because the idea that he would wake alone in this nightmare scared him more than his lack of energy. Mello would certainly be going back to work tomorrow which meant that isolation wouldn't begin to describe what he was about to go through. He could try to plead with Mello and beg him to stay which wouldn't work or he could wait for Mello to leave and spend a few days at Wammy house. It wasn't much of a better solution but it beat staying here alone. As a bonus Roger would never tell Mello that he was there so all would be well…at least until Mello returned home and Matt wasn't there.

He sighed crossing the idea off his list. The more he wanted to get behind the idea that it was just his imagination the more his realism kicked him in the ass. He saw that light, more than once and he wasn't crazy. He saw that shadow on his first night here and he certainly saw Mello running from him before they bought this God forsaken place. Or at least someone that looked so close to Mello Matt himself couldn't tell them apart at first. If he hadn't noticed the lack of footfalls in the snow he couldn't imagine what could have happened to him.

"The chair goes into the damn living room! What the hell am I paying you for if you're scratching the paint off my damn walls?" Mello's voice boomed from downstairs. The movers had come to deliver the furniture and Mello was making himself their personal hell. Matt would have felt bad but the look on the men's faces when they drank Mello in was enough to put a slight smile on his face.

To his defense Mello wasn't wearing leather. He had actually come home and changed but it didn't eclipse his already overpowering aura. Even in a loose shirt and sweatpants Mello was domineering. He viciously took a bite out of the chocolate bar that he was holding before barking a few more commands like they were the soldiers he dealt with every day at work.

Matt sighed, "Go easy on them Mello." He watched the deliberately slow glare come from the blond and he held his hands up. The two movers zoomed in on him and he gave a friendly if not a bit standoffish wave in their direction. It was very clear they either labeled him as the blond's live in boyfriend or the poor soul that had to deal with him every day. Unfortunately he was kind of both. Mello had never said they were dating but he had never said they weren't either. "I mean you're being rude."

Mello's glare intensified, "If I wasn't constantly surrounded by idiots then maybe I wouldn't have to be rude to get my point across." He tilted his head slightly his jaw locking and Matt moved away from the banister. He wasn't dealing with this right now but a nap did sound good.

~*xXx*~

"Matt!" The voice sounded a bit shrill from wherever it was coming from. "Matt. Mail fucking Jeevas!" The sensation of hands grabbing around his shoulders and shaking was present but wherever it was coming from Matt couldn't tell. The grip tightened and began to hurt as he struggled without knowing if he was actually struggling. The open void of darkness held him tightly like a mother swaddling her son. It was threatening his breathing, his sanity, his everything. "Matt!"

The darkness snapped flowing and ebbing away like the tide in the ocean. Matt gasped jerking accidentally away from the pain that was pressing itself into his shoulders. Slowly his eyes opened but they felt glued and it took time. A flood of golden light blinded him before the same arms that were hurting him tightened around him in a gentle embrace.

"Mello?" Matt's voice cracked slightly as he realized he was thirsty. He was beyond thirsty, he had to be dehydrated. "Mello, let go." He pushed away from the other only to find the normally collected blond with large blue eyes and breathing heavily. His breath was coming out in fast pants that appeared in the air between the two of them. The look was enough to send a chill down Matt's spine. "Mello?"

The blond sighed, "What the hell were you doing Matt?" He whispered in a voice strained by emotion. He wasn't sure if the blond wanted to beat the hell out of him or keep hugging him.

Matt couldn't clear the clouds from his mind. He simply shrugged still not completely understanding what had spooked the blond so bad. Maybe he had finally seen what Matt had been talking about this whole time. It was only when he stood up that his heart dropped into his stomach. The chapel doors sat in front of him closed with red streaks across the door in symbols that Matt couldn't decipher even if he wasn't groggy. Slowly he lifted his hand brushing it across his forehead and it came back red.

Mello's arm engulfed his shoulder again, gently, softly he began to steer the red head back towards the open backdoor. Over half the lights in the house were on but Matt wasn't sure if he had been the one to turn them on or if it were Mello. He had no remembrance of anything since around noon.

They breached the door and entered the house. Suddenly Mello was gone turning off the persistent beeping sound that accompanied the sensors when they thought actual danger was coming. He then came back moving towards the fire place and then into the kitchen to put some tea on for Matt. He kept his gaze averted for the most part attempting to look busier than he actually was. Mello was freaked if he wasn't yelling and screaming but his silence was scaring Matt more and more.

"Why were you out there?" Mello's voice had mostly returned to normal but his gaze, which now rested on Matt, was slightly too erratic for him to be considered "normal."

"I-I don't know." Matt replied quietly. "Mello, what happened?"

Blue eyes swiped over Matt's face before he returned to making the tea. "It's about four in the morning right now." Mello replied quietly keeping his eyes now on the tea. "I woke up to the motion sensors going off and the beeping. I thought someone was in the house Matt. I really did. I ran through searching for you but you weren't here. I checked the whole house before I realized the motion lights outside had been triggered. I opened the door and you were there…" His voice drifted off as he sat the tea in front of the red head. "You were ramming your head against the chapel doors Matt. Why?"

Again the red head shrugged, "Mello I don't remember anything after I lay down to take a nap when the movers were here."

A blond eyebrow rose, "You never took a nap Matt." Mello's voice replied cautiously. "You helped me arrange the living room and unpack the kitchen. You were really quiet and I assumed it was because you were in one of your moods."

"Mello I don't know where I've been." Matt's voice had dropped into no emotion. "Mello…"

The blond stood reaching forward and wrapping his arm around the red head. "Let's get you back into bed. I'll stay with you so it won't be happening again." His voice cracked slightly at the words but Matt didn't comment. "It's probably just stress from moving. Let's get your head cleaned up too." He added as an afterthought. "It's just stress." Despite the hard tone Matt faintly noticed that it didn't seem like Mello believed his own words either.


	3. Chapter 3

Authors note: Oh man I'm on a roll. Second story tonight and hopefully there will be more. Anyho horror lovers, or people who just like reading my work there's more freakyness to come. Be prepared. So please read, review and enjoy.

Chapter three

Mello never fell asleep beside Matt. The red head snoozed lightly with a cocoon of blankets around him but Mello couldn't seem to find that kind of peace. What if Matt was right about this house? What if there really was something in this house? No, that was stupid. Matt was just sleepwalking because of his paranoia. That had to be it. There was nothing more and nothing less. Unfortunately, that didn't help Mello sleep and when the first tinkering of sunlight broke the curtains he rolled out of bed. He couldn't just lay here.

He checked the red head but the boy was out cold. "Matty, what's happened to you?" He asked himself aloud before moving off the bed. He had to go back to work today; he didn't have much of a choice in that matter. If he spent any more days out they were going to think something was up. The only problem was he couldn't just leave Matt here alone in the kind of state that he was in. Sure, there were cameras but he couldn't watch them all the time. He had spent enough time trying to keep Matt and the mafia separate and this situation would not make a difference.

He didn't feel like much of a genius right now. He couldn't even assure himself fully that ghosts were just a figment of people's imaginations. The only solution that he could come up with was to send Matt to Roger. He shivered at the thought. Matt's hallucinations would probably be blamed on Mello somehow and he certainly didn't need that happening. He already had enough problems let alone Roger deciding to keep Matt because Mello was abusing him in some way. Matt would get hit sometimes but it wasn't like Mello could just pet Matt down. The red head was strong enough in his own right but all Roger and Near could think about was his days at Wammy house. Back when he used to lose it, he used to lose himself.

"Mello." Roger's voice was frail like the man using it. "I must say I didn't expect you to have called me. Is there some kind of problem?"

Mello sneered, "Why does something have to be wrong when I call?" He asked glancing out the back window at the chapel. Matt's blood was bright red against the wood of the doors. The sun highlighted it enough that even from the window Mello could see the symbols, markings, whatever the hell they were. They were vivid and accusing him every time he turned around. Gingerly, he sat down his cup of hot chocolate heading out the backdoor.

Roger made a quiet noise, "Because you hate talking to me." He replied easily. "You view me as a pawn of Near's and therefore, you never like talking to me. Is Matt the problem, Mello?"

The blond paused, "Why?" He asked kicking the water hose from Matt's hiding place for it. He picked up the nozzle dragging it across the yard towards the chapel doors.

"I am only used to you when Matt does something that confuses you." He said simply. Mello lifted the hose absently wondering when Roger was able to read him so well. When he was a child Roger was just another mild minded adult that saw a personal prize in all their minds. He was easily fooled and forgotten about but what if it was the mind of a child that believed that and it wasn't true. He winced at the idea spraying the doors with a heavy spray of water. "Is that water running?"

Mello glared at the phone, why was he doing this on the phone with Roger. "I need help remembering. Did Matt ever sleepwalk back at Wammy house?" He questioned twisting the hose in his hand.

"Matt was a restless child but he never slept walked that I remember, Mello." Roger's voice was gentle but he already sensed something was amiss. "Can I talk to Matt, Mello?"

"No." Mello replied more roughly than he had anticipated. "He's sleeping. He'll be up later."

"Then I shall call him then. Is there anything else Mello?"

Mello opened his mouth before closing it and glaring at the phone again. Did he not believe him? Was he trying to get a rise out of him? It was working; he could feel the anger boiling in the depth of his chest. "How about nightmares? Reoccurring nightmares?" He could sense Roger's mind working through the phone. The questions were odd but he couldn't remember that far back.

"Yes, perhaps some but no more than the normal child. I remember that to ease Matt's fear you would sleep in the bed with him. You're much too old for that now but Matt is also old enough to realize that it's nothing more than a scary dream."

"Do you know what they were about?" He asked walking back into the house picking up his keys from the hook and paused. Matt didn't need to be going out in his condition. He contemplated taking his keys but left them anyway. If he had a job he would need them even if Mello didn't want him driving.

Roger sighed, "Matt has always been willful. He would never tell anyone what happened in his dreams." His voice was dry like he regretted it somehow. "Can you tell Matt that I will be calling him shortly, Mello?"

Mello nodded heading up the stairs, "Of course. I have to go." He hung the phone up before the older man could talk again. He peeked in and saw what he figured. Matt was still sleeping which was good. He needed to get out of the door without the other whining. He crept through the room patting the blanket around Matt until he found his cellphone. He wouldn't need this. If Matt needed him he could use his computer. He glanced down to see Roger calling.

He smirked. Not today.

~*xXx*~

Matt rolled over attempting to blink the sleep out of his eyes. He felt around him but Mello wasn't there anymore and that sent a chill through him. When he finally sat up he saw that dusk had set in. He had literally slept all day and Mello had let him. He crawled out of bed taking the time to cross the room and turn the light on. If the sun was setting the last thing he wanted was to be in the dark.

He thought about going to take a shower but it didn't strike a chord too important to him. Instead he opened the door to his bedroom to find a dark hallway. There was no light coming from the stairs that held Mello's bedroom, there was no light coming from Mello's office and there was no light downstairs. He felt his heart shoot into his throat.

He couldn't have. He wouldn't have left him alone, right?

His feet barely touched the stairs as he moved down them. The keys! He stopped in front of the key jar and his heart dropped into his stomach.

Mello's keys were gone.

Mello was gone.

He was alone.

The response was immediate. The whimper that escaped his lips was completely unmanly and resembled a kicked dog. He couldn't stay here alone.

He trekked back up the stairs towards his bedroom once again. As much as he wanted to reserve his pride he would call Roger and go stay at Wammy house. He could think up a logical solution of why he needed to go there for a few days until Mello returned home. Hell, he could probably get away with just saying that the security at Wammy house is shit so he was helping Roger bring it up to date. Mello would believe that, hell, he might actually do it.

He ransacked his bed in search of his cellphone. Blankets and pillows lay on the floor in his wake as he picked them back up in a bundle to shove them back on the bed. He knew he was a heavy sleeper and sometimes would accidentally knock his phone to the floor but as he dropped down to his knees he froze. Did he really want to look under the bed?

He shook his fears away. The room was light and while there was light there would be no ghosts, or dreams, or problems that he had been dealing with recently. He took a deep breath and shoved his hand under patting around in the darkness still too frightened to actually peer under.

Nothing.

He sat back his mind racing to think of a solution. He could just show up at Wammy house without calling but then Anne would fret and Roger would automatically think it had something to do with Mello. It did but not in that way.

He pushed himself up heading back out the room leaving the light on. The more light the better but as he set foot on the stairs he paused with his hand on the banister. There was another light now and it wasn't coming from his bedroom. The stairs showed that Mello's bedroom light was on and hope flickered in his chest. Maybe Mello was just keeping his keys on him and that's why they weren't in the bowl.

Matt was at Mello's bedroom door in seconds taking the stairs two at a time before pausing. The door was still shut but the sliver of light showed under the crack. He smiled knocking lightly on the door. "Mell, are you in there?" His voice caught out of anxiety. "Mello?" He turned the knob to push the door open as the light from under the door disappeared.

Downstairs a door quiet shut.

~*xXx*~

Mello was having a hard time focusing. He had left Matt alone after everything the red head had gone through the night before and he felt terrible for it. He couldn't just stay away from his job though but it seemed like the longer he sat here barking orders at soldiers the more he thought about Matt. Would the red head be okay alone like that? Even after last night?

Sure, in a normal situation Matt was a trooper and Mello wouldn't have to worry about it too much but recently. He could tell the red head hadn't been getting enough sleep, he wasn't eating or even playing videogames like he usually did. He fell silent the minute Mello asked if he was okay and all it had done was make Mello regret buying the house. He hadn't seen or heard anything strange since moving in but…that didn't mean it was there.

He winced. The longer he sat here thinking about it the more he was going to do his head in. "Riley, would you shut the fuck up. I'm tired of listening to your music." He glared at the soldier who instantly turned the music down.

"Mello, you don't seem yourself today. Is it home?" The boss asked lightly keeping it conversational. Even he didn't try and delve into Mello's home life.

The blond shrugged, "I think I've made a mistake and I'm trying to think of a logical way to fix it. That's all. There's no need to worry about anything."

He said it but he wasn't too sure about that himself.


	4. Chapter 4

Authors note: Oh snap I've returned. I have another year of school so I'm trying to do updates. Just give me some time. Thank you for all who have reviewed and read this. This is my first actual horror story and I'm hoping it's coming out well. Anyway read, review and enjoy.

Chapter four

"Oh fuck me." Matt whispered to himself jerking his hand away from the knob to Mello's bedroom. He stood there intensely quiet willing for nothing else to happen but much to his dismay there was the pitter patter of footfalls. Each step was another testament of how wrong this was. It suggested that Mello left a door unlocked downstairs and that there was no way that he was here alone. The idea that it could even be Mello pushed itself out of his mind. It was far too soon for the blond to be home from work. "I'm not scared. I'm not scared." He chanted making his way back down the stairs shaking slightly from anxiety and fear.

He paused, something was still wrong. He turned to see the light back on in Mello's room and he growled, "Oh fuck you too." He hissed but not nearly enough for it to be heard in the room. Instead the footsteps downstairs paused momentarily before beginning up the stairs. He twitched making haste down the stairs without making much noise before he turned the corner and stared squarely into the face of a tall blond woman. "The fuck?"

She looked nearly as surprised as he felt. "Matt, you're okay." It was only now that he noticed the gun in her hand lower. "We were worried that maybe something happened to you." She glanced around before a frown creased her forehead. "What happened to your face? Matt, are you okay? You look terrible."

He gave a pained grin. "Moving gave me bad dreams is all. I started sleepwalking and fell down the stairs." He moved past her to find several others standing quietly on the stairs watching him with dark eyes as if waiting for something to happen. "What brings you all to my house?"

Hal winced, "Roger called Near and Near sent us. He believed that Mello had possibly…"

He sighed, "I get it. Mello took my cellphone with him but he didn't hurt me." He saw by her look that she didn't believe him. If they thought it was going to take this many people to get him out this house to Roger they were terribly mistaken. He wanted to leave faster than anything. "Well, I was just about to leave so if you wouldn't mind getting out and excusing me."

She blinked glancing up at the bedroom behind him at the head of the stairs. "If Mello home right now?"

Matt raised a red eyebrow but she couldn't see it. "If he was half your team would have been dead trying to restrain him. He'd be pissed." He didn't want to ask the question but he also didn't want to turn around to check for himself. "Is the light on in that room?"

She shook her head, "No. I just thought that maybe he was in here somewhere." She looked around with a small smile playing on her lips. "It's a beautiful home. Did Mello pick it out?"

Matt rubbed his arm, "Yeah. It's his dream home." He mumbled wanting to get out of the hallway and away from this room. "Um, you can check his bedroom if you like. He might be in there…I, um think I saw his light on a few minutes ago." He took a breath behind that. These weren't the right things to be saying. He should be asking how they found the house and why they were still here. This whole situation was messing with him in a very bad way.

She nodded sliding past him going up to the bedroom door. She turned the knob before frowning, "He locked it." She replied. "More importantly he's not home so we get to talk to you alone which is what Roger wanted."

Matt swallowed. That door didn't have a lock on it but she had said it was locked. Instead he trained his face into calm and headed down the stairs the rest of the way pushing past the goons that she had brought with her before pausing. "Near?" He almost didn't believe his eyes as the white haired boy stood, slightly bent in between two of the bodyguards looking tired and slightly bored. For him that was a lot of emotions.

"Near?" He glanced back at Hal who was doing a terrible job at avoiding his gaze. Instead she had taken to staring at Mello's bedroom door as if it were going to reveal the secrets of the universe to her. He didn't like the way this was going already and he was positive that it was just beginning.

~*xXx*~

"Mello?" The voice was timid enough that the blond didn't bother looking up from the laptop he was working at. Sure, it was his boss calling his name but anyone around would know that it was him that called the shots in this place. As far as he was concerned he didn't owe a look in anyone's direction but his own. The man sighed instead taking a seat across from the typing blond. It was clear that he was in some form of deep concentration. "Mello, you've been at the computer all day. Don't you think you should be doing your job and giving the soldiers orders?" He questioned readying himself for an outburst from the blond.

Instead blue eyes panned upwards rimmed with black eye liner. No one challenged that the boy was a raging puff and most likely had a boyfriend on the side that none of them would ever meet but no one said that to his face. Something like that could potentially dangerous. Instead Mello kept quiet about his home life and no one questioned what he did when he left the hideout because Mello didn't pry into someone else's life here.

The eyes blinked slowly as if judging how to react to the situation. "I did." Was his only response. He was calm, too calm. Mello was troubled by something. "Was that all?"

The boss raised an eyebrow, "What exactly are you doing over here?"

"Researching." He mumbled tilting the screen downward as if his boss were going to stand up and take a look. "It's time consuming but it needs to be done. I'm watching the soldiers also, don't worry about it."

The man nodded, "You seem distracted today."

The blond shrugged. "Perhaps."

The boss shook his head, "Your work comes before research." He stood heading back towards the door. "Don't forget that."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Mello mumbled pushed the screen back up and continuing to type. His eyes clouded in worry at whatever he was looking at. The boss just shook his head closing the door behind himself.

~*xXx*~

"No." Matt's voice was solid as he stood in the corner taking a deep sip of the tea that he had fetched from the kitchen. He did it more to calm himself down. He was doing a terrible job at it so far. His old master would be disappointed with how nervous and twitchy he had become over something that, to someone else, would see minor. It wasn't minor though. None of it was.

Hal frowned, "Someone is threating his life. The safest place for him is here with you and Mello."

Matt's hands abruptly stopped shaking. "Think about what you just said. The new L and Mello in the same house together. You really think he's going to be protected _here?_" Green eyes were hidden behind sunny tinted glasses. "Near can't stay here. I'm sorry that Roger would even think about suggesting something like that."

She sighed, "There has been a threat on his life and he can't go back to Wammy house. Mello won't let someone kill Near."

Matt nodded, "That's right. He'll just do it himself." For good measure Matt made a gun out of his hand and shot off two rounds at Near. The boy remained unperturbed, most likely because it was Matt doing it and not Mello. Back at Wammy house if Mello so much as made a gesture towards the white haired boy he'd flee into his bedroom, lock the door and remain there for days.

She leaned forward holding her hand up for silence from her men. "It works out well for the both of you. Near can watch you with Mello and you can watch over Near from Mello."

Matt snorted, "How is Near supposed to save me from Mello?" The quiet penetrated the room. "Exactly."

A clipping sound clicked off several times from upstairs as the group glanced up. It moved from near their offices towards the stairs before stopping short of the stairs where anyone could see what was causing it. Matt's hands returned to shaking.

"Is someone else here?" One of Hal's men questioned.

Matt shook his head. "It's our cat." He mumbled watching as Hal raised an eyebrow. "I'll take care of Near. He'll be safe here and I'll somehow keep Mello from taking his head off. Leave now." He returned to the kitchen to place his cup into the sink. He stayed there for several minutes before meeting the group at the door. Hal was whispering something into Near's ear and the boy nodded clutching some kind of handmade figure in his hand and something Hal had placed into his other hand.

"Take care of him, Matt." She smiled sadly as if she didn't want to leave the boy.

He just nodded slowly folding his arms over his chest. He shut the door as she exited alarming the security that should have been alarmed from the beginning.

There was a gentle hand on his shoulder as he glanced down at the boy who didn't look up. "I'm allergic to cats."

"We don't have a cat." Matt mumbled heading back towards the living room leaving Near in the walkway alone.


End file.
